Soundcloud has introduced a new ad system, as its looks to woo musicians and labels to its music streaming platform.
With 175 million monthly listeners, SoundCloud is the second biggest streaming music service in the world behind YouTube.
SoundCloud does not pay royalties to artists that use the platform, but it does provide them with vital exposure to a wider audience.
Under the new ad scheme creators will have advertising shown or played alongside their music (or other audio content), and will get “the majority” of the money paid to SoundCloud by that advertiser.
The ads are a mixture of radio-style audio ads, display advertising on mobile, native advertising including promotion of SoundCloud tracks and profiles, and sponsorships and contests where brands work with individual creators.
Launch advertisers will include Red Bull, Jaguar and Comedy Central.
SoundCloud now has three tiers: Partner, Pro and Premier.
The Partner tier is for getting started: it’s free and easy to join the community, users can share their first track, receive feedback and get basic stats.
The Pro Partner level is a paid offering with more upload time, advanced tools, features like Spotlight and detailed stats. As an added benefit, at the Partner and Pro levels, upload time is increased by 50%.
At the Premier partner level, creators will have the opportunity to make money from their tracks through advertising. It also includes Pro features and more benefits. At launch, entry to the Premier tier is by invitation. Monetization occurs only on content when it’s played in the US.